EQAO

Chapter 33 - Memories

I crept silently through the hallway. Mr. Folman had told me that all the teachers would be in the main gym. Our plan was simple, get me into the gym, and while I was dealing with Ms. Gerdalli, Mr. Folman would seal all the doors except one.

Once I was finished, I would escape as quick as I could, and shut the door behind me. Then we would call the police to come and arrest them.

I found the gym doors and opened them. Instead of finding the dark elevator, I found myself in sort of a hallway. It was shaped like a crescent moon, so that the points were in front of me. There were seven doors ahead of me, and they all were identically wooden. I picked the one farthest to the right, and opened it a crack.

Inside, a wide stadium was full to the brink with people. They all looked no more than thirty, but their eyes told me they had seen more than I could imagine.

The floor of the stadium was made of glass, and underneath, there was water. Lots and lots of water. I could feel it all swirling around. Ms. Gerdalli was standing in the middle of the room on a large, black podium. She was talking to the room full of people,

"They put up a good fight, but in the end, they were defeated."

I tuned out. I didn't want to hear a word this woman has to say. To her right, there were four bodies laying on a slab of metal.

My friends.

I almost broke down then and there. The girl closest to me was Kat. I had only met her a few days ago, but I felt like we had become such good friends. Her positive attitude, her smile, her laughter, and her kindness, all make Kat. I remembered when she was so excited about the pathetic stickers above the doors of our sleeping area. Our time together had been so short, and so full of sadness and fear.

If only we'd got more time. If only we had all got out of this alive, and we had been friends until we grew old.

A tear streaked down my cheek, as I peeked through the door again. The girl next to Kat was Anika. I had known her for four years. I had met her in grade six, when I was new to the school, and we clicked. She was the weirdest, most annoying, kindest person I knew, besides my other friends.

She would poke me hard in the stomach, then turn around to hold the door for a stranger. No matter what happened, she would always be nice to people, even if they weren't nice back. She would give away all her food, then complain she was hungry. She's a special one. Or I guess now I should say was. I sank slowly down to the floor. 

I glimpsed another face. Sameera. We actually met in grade two, but didn't become best friends until grade five. She was so weird and wasn't afraid to show it. She was super goofy, and had the heart of a two-year-old, and I loved her for it. I couldn't believe I'd never hear her laugh , or her yelling,

"PUNCH!" really loudly, and fake punching my face.

She could never be serious, and when she tried, she just laughed harder. I just wish I could see her miss a goal in soccer just one more time.

We had only became best friends because of Michelle. I'd known Michelle the longest, since we met in kindergarten. It's a funny story actually, It was so easy to make friends when you're five. I just went up to her on the first day of school and asked,

"Wanna be friends?"

She replied,

"Are you mean?"

I thought for a moment, then said,

"No."

Michelle immediately perked up, and said,

"Okay!"

We were friends ever since. And sure, we had had fights, but thats part of friendship. The important part is that we were still friends. I couldn't count the amount of times we had laughed together. And now, those times are over. My friends were gone, and I would never get them back.